Song About Black Guy Dating White Girl

Song About Black Guy Dating White Girl
20 politically incorrect songs that'd be wildly controversial today
20 politically incorrect songs that'd be wildly controversial today
These once popular songs are now considered offensive
If these classic songs were released today, it would almost certainly ignite a scandal.
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There's nothing like hearing a song come on the radio or flicker across a Spotify playlist that you haven't encountered in a while, and realizing, "Was this song always this offensive?"
The answer: Yes, it probably was. Standards have changed quite a bit in terms of what references the culture at large deems offensive in its hit songs, from casual homophobia in pop songs from Katy Perry and Taylor Swift to the jaw-dropping lyrical content of some Rolling Stones classics.
Below, find a list of songs that, if released today, would almost certainly ignite a scandal.
Song: Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas, 1974
Choice lyric: “There was funky Billy Chin and little Sammy Chung / He said ‘Here comes the big boss, let’s get it on.' ”
Why it wouldn't fly today: Perhaps the song was just trying to celebrate the ancient art of kung fu. But its lyrics about “funky Chinamen from funky Chinatown” with stereotypically Asian-sounding last names isn’t exactly a nuanced appreciation of the culture.
Song: Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones, 1971
Choice lyric: “Gold coast slave ship bound for cotton fields / Sold in the market down in New Orleans / Scarred old slaver knows he's doing alright / Hear him whip the women just around midnight.”
Why it wouldn't fly today: Even Mick Jagger knows these lyrics aged incredibly poorly; in recent years, he’s changed the words when he performs the song live. Beyond the song’s opening stanzas, the racism, misogyny and outright references to raping slaves make this a low point in the Stones’ discography.
Song: Under My Thumb by the Rolling Stones, 1966
Choice lyric: “Under my thumb, the squirmin' dog who's just had her day / Under my thumb, a girl who has just changed her ways."
Why it wouldn't fly today: Another disgusting entry in the Stones’ songbook, the song about a woman who’s been molded to “talk when she's spoken to” is an embarrassment for even existing.
Song: Ur So Gay by Katy Perry, 2007
Choice lyric: “I can't believe I fell in love with someone that wears more makeup and / You're so gay and you don't even like boys”
Why it wouldn't fly today: If Perry’s I Kissed A Girl was borderline gross for its exploitative take on same-sex experimentation, Ur So Gay crosses the line with its deeply immature rattling-off of gay stereotypes, driven home by the use of the word as a slur.
Song: Picture to Burn by Taylor Swift, 2008
Choice lyric: “So go and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy / That's fine, I'll tell mine that you're gay.”
Why it wouldn't fly today: Perry’s frenemy Taylor Swift wasn’t immune to the same kind of sophomoric homophobia, with Picture To Burn subscribing to the same backward view that the worst thing you could call a teenage boy is “gay.”
Song: Do They Know It’s Christmas? by the Band Aid choir, 1984
Choice lyric: “And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time / The greatest gift they'll get this year is life / Where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow / Do they know it's Christmas time at all?”
Why it wouldn't fly today: Possibly the most culturally insensitive Christmas song of all time, the Band Aid supergroup may have raised money to alleviate an Ethiopian famine with the proceeds from Do They Know It’s Christmas. But they did it with a song that declares the entire continent of Africa is bereft of water, trees or joy.
Song: Turning Japanese by The Vapors, 1980
Choice lyric: "I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese"
Why it wouldn't fly today: No, Turning Japanese isn't literally about turning Japanese. Still, it wouldn't be acceptable today to hear a group of white guys assuming the identity of Asian people.
Song: I'm an Indian Outlaw by Tim McGraw, 1994
Choice lyric: “You can find me in my wigwam / I'll be beating on my tom-tom / Pull out the pipe and smoke you some / Hey and pass it around.”
Why it wouldn't fly today: McGraw is certainly not “an Indian outlaw, half Cherokee and Choctaw” as he claims in the song. And even if he were, that wouldn’t excuse the hilariously lazy Native American tropes he employs.
Song: Island Girl by Elton John, 1975
Choice lyric: “Island girl, what you wanting with the white man's world / Island girl, black boy want you in his island world”
Why it wouldn't fly today: The borderline fetishization in John’s chart-topping ode to a New York City prostitute who’s “black as coal but she burn like a fire” is cringeworthy.
Song: Ebony and Ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, 1982
Choice lyric: “Ebony and ivory / Live together in perfect harmony / Side by side on my piano keyboard / Oh lord, why don't we?”
Why it wouldn't fly today: McCartney and Wonder meant well with their hyper-literal interpretation of race relations. But their message of “people are the same, there’s good and bad in everyone, so let’s just get along” would be interpreted as hilariously naïve by the more woke factions of today's cultural discourse.
Choice lyric: “Rape me / Rape me, my friend”
Why it wouldn't fly today: We get it. Kurt Cobain was a deeply tortured soul. He probably, in retrospect, could’ve expressed this one better.
Song: Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright) by Rod Stewart, 1976
Choice lyric: “Don’t say a word, my virgin child, just let your inhibitions run wild"
Why it wouldn't fly today: In case the lyrics to this No. 1 hit weren’t cringe-inducing enough, try not feeling icky watching its video. In it, Stewart woos a faceless young woman and leads her up to his bedroom before she says in French, “I’m a little scared. What is my mother going to say?”
Song: One in a Million by Guns N' Roses, 1988
Choice lyric: “Immigrants and f****ts, they make no sense to me / They come to our country and think they’ll do as they please"
Why it wouldn’t fly today: Axl Rose attempts to win our sympathy with his story of a “small-town white boy” feeling lost when he moves to Los Angeles. But using derogatory language for gay and black men certainly doesn’t help his case, nor do his wildly xenophobic lyrics about immigrants. (“They talk so many (expletive) ways / it’s all Greek to me.”)
Song: Kissin' Cousins by Elvis Presley, 1964
Choice lyric: "Well I've got a gal, she's as cute as she can be / She's a distant cousin but she's not too distant with me"
Why it wouldn't fly today: Nothing like a little casual incest to get the crowd up and dancing. This seemingly innocent but actually creepy doo-wop tune is taken from the King's 1964 movie musical, in which he plays an Air Force pilot whose two beautiful cousins compete for his affections. Different times?
Song: Age Ain't Nothing But a Number by Aaliyah, 1994
Choice lyric: "Age ain't nothing but a number / throwing down ain't nothing but a thang / This lovin' I have for you, it'll never change"
Why it wouldn't fly today: No disrespect to the late Princess of R&B, whose hypnotic vocals and idiosyncratic style remain timeless. But it's hard not to feel at least mildly uncomfortable listening to this song in retrospect: At the time she recorded it, a then-14-year-old Aaliyah was dating — and would soon illegally marry — her mentor/producer R. Kelly, who was 27.
Song: Illegal Alien by Genesis, 1983
Choice lyric: "It's no fun being an illegal alien"
Why it wouldn't fly today: Its message and story are seemingly well-intentioned, detailing a Mexican immigrant's struggle to cross the border in search of a better life. But the racist video puts the song in a whole different light, with stereotypical imagery of mariachi horns, ponchos, sombreros and oversize mustaches.
Song: Walk on the Wild Side by Lou Reed, 1972
Choice lyric: "Holly came from Miami, F-L-A / Hitchhiked her way across the USA / Plucked her eyebrows on the way / Shaved her legs and then he was a she"
Why it wouldn't fly today: In a song filled with racy anecdotes, this reference to Holly Woodlawn, a transgender actress who was bullied as a teenager and ran away from home, is alarmingly tone-deaf.
Song: Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, 1985
Choice lyric: "See the little f****t with the earring and the makeup? / Yeah buddy, that's his own hair / That little f****t got his own jet airplane / That little f****t, he's a millionaire"
Why it wouldn't fly today: A slight at effeminate rock stars, once again using "gay" as an insult. It's no wonder this homophobic slur was omitted from the band's greatest-hits album, Sultans of Swing .
Song: Dude (Looks Like a Lady) by Aerosmith, 1987
Choice lyric: "She had the body of a Venus / Lord, imagine my surprise / Dude looks like a lady"
Why it wouldn't fly today: Guy walks into a bar and realizes the stripper he's been ogling is actually a man. Although the rock classic was co-written by openly gay songwriter Desmond Child, its questionable use in the media — by Fox News when reporting on Chelsea Manning, for instance — makes us think that it's not the homage to the LGBTQ community that he intended.
Song: He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss) by The Crystals, 1962
Choice lyric: "He hit me and it felt like a kiss / he hit me and I knew he loved me"
Why it wouldn't fly today: Gerry Goffin and Carole King were inspired to write the doo-wop ballad by the tragic true-life story of singer Little Eva, who told them that her boyfriend's beatings were motivated by love. But without context, lyrics such as "he hit me and I was glad" are an off-putting endorsement of domestic abuse.

Robert Fontenot Jr. is an entertainment critic and journalist focusing on classic rock and roll and published nationally for more than 25 years.

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The enduring appeal of forbidden love made songs about cheating a part of the classic pop of the '50s, '60s, and '70s. While there are lots of songs about unfaithful lovers and spouses, only a few in rock history deal with what life is like for those on the inside—the actual Other Women and Other Men who find themselves entangled in love triangles they didn't see coming.

For decades, these types of scandalous tunes existed entirely the domain of blues and country music, since those genres tend to deal with life at its most basic level. Once the sexual revolution kicked into high gear, however, more and more Top 40 songs began to wrestle with the issue of loving someone you shouldn't.

Thanks to its self-explanatory meaning, this song was considered scandalous when it first came out. The scandal arose partly from the fact that it was sung by the future Queen of New Orleans Soul when she was just 19 years old—and already on her second husband!

One of the eeriest and most inscrutable rock records of all time, this girl group classic is now considered by some to be a quiet anthem about cheating, lesbianism, and/or prostitution. The title comes from an innocent schoolyard chant, but the lyrics hint at a "secret" that can only be revealed to the roses themselves.

Country and Western music obviously broached the subject of cheating well before the pop mainstream dared to look at it, but Van Dyke's 1961 smash was still pretty direct for its day, leading to a whole strain of honky-tonk classics about cheatin' and lyin'.

An early Muscle Shoals classic, this song was designed by Dan Penn and Chips Moman to be "the best cheating song, ever." They might be right—it was covered notably by Percy Sledge, who knew a thing or two about turning impossible romantic situations into soul nirvana.

Few songs capture the ache of part-time love like this aching ballad, another Muscle Shoals triumph and the one that turned Carter from a failed bluesman into a soul powerhouse. The way he wails on the line "What would I give?" speaks (or rather sings) volumes.

Country-pop star Juice Newton had such success with her revamped version in 1981 that not a lot of folks even remember the original, which was almost as big a hit. Rush's tremulous delivery reveals just how much women put on the line back in 1968—risking not just their heart but their social standing—by being the Other Woman.

The sadly underrated Covay was adept at blues, soul, and something he called "country funk," and this rare top 40 hit of his contains elements of all those styles. A sort of companion piece to Johnnie Taylor's "Who's Making Love," it shows in painful detail how cheating on someone else can backfire on the cheater, trapping them in a double bind of awful secrets.

The demands of family, career, and relationships can make holding down multiple relationships very difficult indeed—and even more so when one of those relationships covers up a lie about the other. Bell is most famous for the aching regret of "You Don't Miss Your Water," which can be played as the sequel to this proto-disco classic.

A clarion call for a newfound era of sexual permissiveness, the big solo hit for this member of Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young made quite an impression. The song was later covered by a legion of artists who seemed to agree that living for the moment, despite your commitments, could be exhilarating. Stills got the title phrase from a remark made by musician Billy Preston.

This song is perhaps the king of all cheating tunes, if only because Ingram goes into so much detail about what's at stake. Apparently, even the families and friends of these two know what's going on, which makes the silky, slow soul of this number a deliciously ticking time bomb. The intro somehow sounds like transgression; the rest sounds almost noble. Almost .

Peebles, on the other hand, doesn't seem to care at all, despite the fact that her own backup singers are advising her "don't break it up." Maybe it's the undeniable sexy thump of the famous Hi Rhythm Section egging her on, but the lady behind "I Can't Stand the Rain" practically explodes in frustration. Clearly, it's about to get real.

That this song is one of the biggest hits on this list has a lot to do with its expert atmosphere: seductive yet romantic, shamed yet determined, sad and noble. "Mrs. Jones" and Billy are "making plans," yet are "careful not to build our hopes up too high." Rhyming "wrong" and "strong" was the most natural thing he could have done.

The soft-rock wave of the 1970s was starting to pick up on the concept by this time, leading to a decade's worth of oversharing on the part of some achingly sensitive people. Mary is so sensitive, in fact, that she thinks you should be fine with this arrangement, despite her indiscretion. The song features shades of Jefferson Airplane's "Triad," though that classic didn't involve actual cheating per se.

Then again, "lovers" rhyming with "discovers" is also pretty impressive. And necessary, too, because the twist here is that the two in question know each other already, and therefore have to look at each other all day, knowing what's going to keep happening. The Other Man is, in fact, this poor guy's best friend. Ouch.

The kings of awkward romantic moments (just check out their lyrics), Bread specialized in unhappy endings, but this latter-day album track makes sure everything ends up okay. That is, except for the unlucky guy she's already seeing, who gets a pretty cavalier sendoff: "When you change your heart / save yourself and forget all the rest."

A beautiful and ironic declaration of romantic fidelity that just happens to be directed at a married man. With lines like "I wish you were my lover / But you act so undercover," delivered as only Chaka can, it set the standard for modern R&B over the next two decades. The message boils down to the first two lines: "I will love you anyway / Even if you cannot stay."

An oddly indifferent-sounding ballad from Chicago's first comeback, and also very soulful, even as it eased the group into their upcoming Adult Contemporary incarnation. It's unclear who's cheating on who here, but Peter Cetera does specifically drop the word "affair" before urging, "Walk away if you see me coming."

The man who wrote "Quiet Storm" would naturally have to have a place on this list, even if he did steal the incredibly accurate title from a novel about Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. The awkward nobility comes on full force here, even if Smokey seems dazed as to how he got here and why his other woman puts up with his situation. Apparently, it started out as a one-night stand, so the answer may lie between the sheets.

Was there ever a sadder No. 1 hit? The song's spoken intro alone, which sets up the rest of the song, proved too emotionally powerful to excise from the 45 release, and you can hear why—it's the culmination of every hard breakup in vocal group history, followed by a devastating tenor performance and an ad-lib that must have sent lots of doomed lovers straight to the bar.

Critic Dave Marsh famously said that this song's effect was as emotional and visceral as "witnessing a murder or a suicide." And yes, Eric Clapton's ode to his best friend George Harrison's wife, Patti Boyd, cuts so deep as to be almost painful to hear. Good thing it rocks so hard—at least until the equally famous piano coda, which sounds like your forbidden love kissing you one last time and driving away, slowly, for good.

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Born in New Hampshire and moved to Maryland to attend Towson University for a degree in Occupational Therapy.
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“So you have jungle fever?” and “You’re into black guys?” didn’t become frequently asked questions until I began attending school at Towson University (TU) as a freshman. I grew up in one of the seventeen cities in the United States named Rochester (Wikipedia, 2015). The most significant difference among them is that this Rochester belongs to a New England state that is listed in bold when you Google “Least diverse state.” If you flip through my year book from senior year, you will count 3 black students in my class, only one of them being male. Although New Hampshire is over 94% “white alone”, (and zero percent Native American) my high school proudly flaunts the Red Raider mascot, a stereotypical Native American with a face tinted blood red (Census Bureau, 2014). This was the place I was born and raised; where nobody had to whisper the “n word” or hesitate to stick some feathers in their hair and paint their skin red as a sign of school spirit.
Growing up in New Hampshire didn’t prevent me from making friends or dating guys who weren’t white. I felt a certain pride in hanging out with people who were Dominican, Indonesian, Laos, Filipino, Hispanic, etc. because it set me apart from others. My parents taught me good morals, like not judging others by their appearance, though I did have to keep my jaw clenched when I visited relatives. They would ask me about the “colored kids” at my job as a camp counselor and spoke the word “bi-racial” in hushed tones, as if it wer
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